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March 29, 2021, 1:13 am
There were only four games on Sunday, and frankly there weren’t a ton of adds to make from watching them. That being said, the Orlando Magic were among those eight teams that played, and there is a wealth of fantasy value to mine with them still trying to figure out what they have with their post-deadline acquisitions. Check out the best names to add in this magical edition of the Sunday Pickups article!
Adds
Chuma Okeke – Rostered in 38% of Yahoo leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 29 .455 (5/11) 1.000 (1/1) 3 14 6 3 0 1 2 On a night where the adds are few and far in between, Chuma Okeke stands out as the clear option to turn to if he’s still on your waiver wire. The rookie big man has flashed an all-around stat set of rebounding, playmaking and defensive stats all year, and now with the offense cleared out around him, we’re seeing him elevate his scoring game in a meaningful way. Starting at power forward with 22 and 14 points in his first two game past the deadline, it feels that Okeke is a solid bet to produce rest of the way, and is a clear add right now in standard leagues. He’ll still be worth evaluating, particularly his role in the offense, once new additions like Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and RJ Hampton ramp up (not to mention Terrence Ross, who has sat out the previous two games) but until then, find room on your roster.
Otto Porter Jr. – Rostered in 44% of Yahoo leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 25 .286 (2/7) — 1 5 4 1 1 0 0 Porter Jr. saw 25 minutes off the bench in his Magic debut, and though the line doesn’t do much to sell him, I think he warrants a spot on your bench as he learns the offense and his new teammates a bit better. 25 minutes is already enough for OPJ to turn in value when all conditions are neutral, and if the plan is to start him and get him to or over the 30 minute mark down the stretch, he’ll have no trouble producing for your fantasy teams.
RJ Hampton – Rostered in 2% of Yahoo Leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 17 .500 (4/8) 1.000 (1/1) 1 10 3 1 1 0 2 Hampton’s first game with Orlando doesn’t jump off the page, but the 7 minutes right out the chute is actually fairly encouraging. It remains to be seen how Steve Clifford plans to use his new rookie guard, and while he mentioned that he envisioned him primarily playing at shooting guard pre-game, Hampton got reps at point guard with Michael Carter-Williams (right knee contusion) forced out of tonight’s game. Hampton’s role in the rotation is going to grow from tonight’s output regardless, and if MCW is out for a while that should only give Hampton more opportunities to find the floor. He’s on the radar as a speculative add in deep-leagues.
Dwayne Bacon – Rostered in 7% of Yahoo leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 33 .474 (9/19) 1.000 (6/6) 2 26 8 1 0 0 1 I’m not a huge advocate of Dwayne Bacon in fantasy. He’s really just a scorer and an inefficient one at that, making him pretty unpalatable for category league settings. That being said, somebody has to take the shots in Orlando right now, and you didn’t have to ask Bacon twice to step into the role. With Terrence Ross (knee) out, Bacon has an opportunity to see close to 20 shots a night, and if you’re willing to roll the dice with his FG%, he could be a worthwhile streamer for points. That being said, once Orlando’s new acquisitions ramp up to the minutes and shots they should be inheriting in the offense, Bacon’s production will likely nosedive, so don’t be afraid to cut him if the looks start to decrease.
Hold Him if You Have Him
Enes Kanter – Rostered in 79% of Yahoo leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 18 .625 (5/8) — 0 10 8 1 0 0 3 Kanter is seeing a precipitous decline in playing time now that Jusuf Nurkic is back in action, though I’m still bumping the breaks ever so slightly before recommending a drop. He’s a productive big man even in limited minutes, and though tonight’s workload is fairly concerning, the production did not fall off the proverbial cliff entirely. I think Kanter is still worth holding until we see Nurkic ramp all the way back up to his usual allotment of playing time. If he’s still playing less than 20 minutes a night once that time comes, he’s probably a drop. If he’s still seeing over that threshold though, he may have just enough juice to hang on in category leagues.
Better on Your Watch List
Miles Bridges – Rostered in 46% of Yahoo Leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 37 .615 (8/13) 1.000 (1/1) 1 18 12 1 0 0 4 Bridges’s fantasy game is often too lackluster for me to pay attention in standard league formats. Tonight’s line was sort of emblematic of my view on it, high points and boards totals with nothing else to show for it. That isn’t to say he can’t be useful for those particular categories though. He’s going to see a small boost in the scoring department as long as Malik Monk (foot) is sidelined, so he could be a somewhat useful streamer until then. I’m not rushing to make an add here though
Gary Trent Jr. – Rostered in 46% of Yahoo leagues
MIN FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO 28 .200 (2/10) .500 (1/2) 1 6 7 0 0 0 0 Trent Jr. had a lot of buzz after getting traded to Toronto and before we realized Kyle Lowry wasn’t getting traded. Once we found out that Lowry was going to end up sticking around, a lot of GTJ’s appeal went out the window. He hasn’t produced much statistically in his first two games despite playing starter’s level minutes, and with his stat set, it’s going to take consistent, high-scoring nights out of him in order to hit top-100 value. He’s probably worth a flier in points leagues with this opportunity ahead of him, but he’ll probably only be an end of bench scorer. I am not interested in his upside in a category league setting.